VOICE OF THE PEOPLE (letter).

Singing the praises of Millennium Park

City of Chicago — When it officially opens on July 16, Millennium Park will fulfill the dream of many to create a new downtown destination for all Chicago residents, tourists and convention-goers that is worthy of a great city. It will generate millions of dollars in new revenue for our city each year and create hundreds of new jobs.

To the credit of those involved, once the full scope of the project was finalized, it was completed on budget, with private contributions providing $205 million. The city's $270 million contribution came from downtown taxpayers, not from taxpayers in any other part of the city. So Millennium Park did not detract from our city's commitment to invest in neighborhood parks across Chicago. And, despite its unique construction challenges and unanticipated problems once the full scope of the park was finalized, it was completed within a couple of months of its target completion date.

Millennium Park is much more than a great new 24.5-acre destination on the former site of railroad tracks and parking lots.

Named to honor the dawning of a new century, Millennium Park is designed to celebrate the people of Chicago, regardless of their age, economic or ethnic backgrounds. We are the faces in the awesome Millennium Fountain by Jaume Plensa. We are the reflections in the Anish Kapoor sculpture. We are the audience at the free, summer-long, outdoor Grant Park Music Festival concerts at the Pritzker Music Pavilion and Great Lawn and all the wonderful programs at the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance. We are the caretakers of the world-class Lurie Garden by Kathryn Gustafson, Piet Oudolf and Robert Israel. We are the pedestrians on the BP Bridge, the only bridge in the world designed by Frank Gehry. And we are the donors whose names are inscribed in the classic Millennium Monument in Wrigley Square in the northwest corner of the park.

These great works of art are permanently enshrined in the Chicago landscape on our lakefront to be "forever open, free and clear."

We believe 2 million to 3 million people will visit Millennium Park annually, infusing millions of dollars into our economy. The Cows on Parade exhibit of 1999 generated more than $200 million of economic activity in only one summer; Millennium Park will benefit the local economy year after year.

The city, the Chicago Park District and private donors are establishing a conservancy to cover some of the costs of operating the park in the years ahead, an effort that will also be supported in part by the additional revenue the park will generate for the city.

To us, there's no question that this public space is a great investment for our city that will pay cultural and financial dividends for years to come.

The city and the private sector worked together to create this singular public space worthy of a great city. This partnership of business and government resources is admired and envied throughout the world. And it will honor Chicago long into the future.